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Heracross/HGSS
Heracross can be found by using Headbutt on trees. Not every tree on every route can house Heracross, but for those trees that can contain them, it has a 20-50% encounter rate. You can find Heracross in trees on Routes 7, 11, 28, 33, 42, 44, 45, 46 and 47 as well as in Azalea Town, Vermillion City, Celadon City, and the lower outdoor portions of Mt. Silver. You may think of Bug-type Pokemon as having mostly early game use, with relatively low stats compared to other fully evolved Pokemon. While this may be mostly true for some, such as the Spinarak and Ledyba lines, Heracross is certainly an exception to this stereotype. Heracross boasts a monstrous attack as well as modest defenses. With great Fighting-Type STAB options like Brick Break and Close Combat, this big bug can crush its way through many of Johto's gyms, and packs plenty enough firepower to be on your team when you beat Red. Important Matchups Johto * Gym #3 - Whitney (Goldenrod City, Normal-type): This big beetle proves its usefulness right off the bat. Get this bug to level 19, and it learns Brick Break, which should OHKO the Clefairy. It won't be able to take down the Miltank with one hit, though, and Miltank will almost definitely outspeed Heracross. Stomp will be a 3-4 hit KO, so be careful of a crit on a second hit. Rollout is an issue after a few hits, but the Protect TM can be found in Goldenrod Department Store and can be used to interrupt the attack. Attract can be an annoyance to male Heracross, and Milk Drink can stall out the battle. One option is to set up Swords Dance on the Clefairy, but be wary of Encore and Metronome. Metronome is scary because there is a chance that it could be something like Explosion or a super effective move, with Flying-type moves in particular being fatal more often than not. * Rival (Burned Tower): The Magnemite is no problem for Heracross as a single Brick Break will take it down. The beetle should be able to take Gastly down in one hit with Shadow Claw, but be aware that it has Curse, Confuse Ray, and Mean Look, which is a potentially nasty combination. Heracross can surprisingly take out the Zubat, as the Bug-type is faster and can KO the Zubat with 2 uses of Shadow Claw. This is not advised, though, as the Zubat can OHKO with a crit Wing Attack, a 2HKO otherwise. As for the starter Pokemon, Heracross does very well against Bayleef, taking it out with 2 or 3 uses of Aerial Ace, whereas Magical Leaf and PoisonPowder are only minor nuisances and Reflect is taken out with Brick Beak. Croconaw is also a straightforward fight, and will most likely be taken out with 2 Brick Breaks while taking very little damage in comparison. Facing the Quilava with Heracross is not recommended, but still possible. Quilava will generally 3HKO an equal level Heracross while 2HKOing a Heracross one level lower with Flame Wheel. Be careful about Speed, as Heracross only has slightly higher base Speed. Two Brick Breaks should take it down, in any case. * Gym #4 - Morty (Ecruteak City, Ghost-type): Heracross fares rather well against Morty. It is able to OHKO the Gastly and both Haunter using Shadow Claw, assuming it's ace level. Be sure to bring in Awakening and equip a Chesto or Lum Berry for the Level 21 Haunter's Hypnosis and Dream Eater combo, with Dream Eater being a possible 2HKO. Everything except for the Gengar has Curse, so be prepared to make a switch if necessary and possible. Note that the Gastly, the Level 23 Haunter, and the Gengar all have Mean Look to prevent these sort of switches. Be especially careful around the faster Gengar, which can survive a Shadow Claw. The Gengar and Level 23 Haunter have Sucker Punch, but they're the real suckers here due to low Attack stats. Shadow Ball from Gengar can make a real dent, just shy of 2HKOing Heracross, and has a chance of lowering Heracross' Special Defense, easily turning into a 2HKO. Make sure to have a Plan B for this kind of situation. * Eusine (Cianwood City): A Chesto or Lum berry is suggested for this fight. Eusine will start the fight off with Drowzee, which will be outsped by Heracross. It's not guaranteed, but there is a chance for Heracross to OHKO the Drowzee. The Drowzee will take at least 4 Confusion hits to take down Heracross, though Hypnosis and Dream Eater combo will be a 3 hit KO. Assuming Heracross' level is equal to that of Electrode, it will likely be outsped by the Haunter, though Haunter only has Lick and Curse at its disposal to deal damage to Heracross. Just like in the Morty battle, beware of Mean Look and Curse. Feel free to Shadow Claw away, though. It might be best to use another Pokemon for the Electrode as Heracross will be outsped at the same level, and can be 3HKOed with Thunder while needing either 2 or 3 Brick Breaks or 2 uses of Dig to take the ballin' Pokemon down. Electrode has Rollout, but it isn't much of an issue until the 4th or 5th hit, and Protect can interrupt the move. All Screech will do is power up Rollout while Heracross essentially gets a free hit in. If there are no other options, Dig would be the best bet. * Gym #5 - Chuck (Cianwood City, Fighting-type): A decent way to take care of Chuck is to use Swords Dance against the Primeape, as Heracross resists Focus Punch, and Rock Slide will be at worst a 4HKO. Primeape may try to Double Team, but it will get double the hurt from a Swords Dance boosted Aerial Ace, OHKOing it in the process. This setup makes Aerial Ace a 2HKO on Poliwrath as opposed to a 3HKO. A Lum Berry will prevent Poliwrath's Hypnosis or Body Slam from being a problem. Focus Punch from either Pokemon could potentially be either a 4HKO or 3HKO, barring an unlucky crit, though Focus Punch should only land if used during the turn of Swords Dance. * Gym #6 - Jasmine (Olivine City, Steel-type): The two Magnemite are no-brainers. Just off them with a Brick Break each. The Steelix shouldn't be much of a problem either; two Brick Breaks will take it down, while the Steelix would need a crit to take down an equal-level Heracross with one hit. With a Black Belt, there's even the possibility of OHKOing the Steelix with Brick Break. Another alternative is to hold a Lum Berry and use Swords Dance against the first Magnemite to cement the sweep. * Petrel (Team Rocket HQ): '''If you're doing this before * '''Ariana (Team Rocket HQ, tag battle with Lance): * Gym #7 - Pryce (Mahogany Town, Ice-type): * Petrel (Goldenrod Radio Tower): '''Everything in this battle has high Defense, resists your STAB, and can explode. Leave this to the Psychic-type. * '''Rival (Goldenrod Underground): * Proton (Goldenrod Radio Tower): * Ariana (Goldenrod Radio Tower): * Archer (Goldenrod Radio Tower): '''Choice Scarf Close Combat OHKO's the Houndour and Houndoom. Koffing is best left to someone else, but in a pinch CC can 3HKO. * '''Gym #8 - Clair (Blackthorn City, Dragon-type): * Kimono Girls (Ecruteak Dance Theater): * Ho-Oh (Bell Tower, HeartGold only): '''Stone Edge with a Choice Scarf can inflict massive damage, but will never OHKO without a crit. Ho-oh however OHKO's with any move. * '''Lugia (Whirl Islands, SoulSilver only): NOPE NONONONONONONONO NOPE NOPITY NOPE NOPE * Rival (Victory Road): * Elite Four Will (Indigo Plateau, Psychic-type): * Elite Four Koga (Indigo Plateau, Poison-type): * Elite Four Bruno (Indigo Plateau, Fighting-type): * Elite Four Karen (Indigo Plateau, Dark-type): * Champion Lance (Indigo Plateau, Flying-type): ''' Kanto From this point onwards, you can fight the gyms in any order, though you will need to retrieve the Machine Parts from the Cerulean City gym before you have access to the earlier portion of Kanto. Feel free to anticipate or postpone any battles as needed. * '''Gym #9 - Brock (Pewter City, Rock-type): '''Close Combat GG. * '''Rival (Mt. Moon, optional): * Gym #10 - Misty (Cerulean City, Water-type): * Gym #11 - Lt. Surge (Vermilion City, Electric-type): '''EQ with Choice scarf GG. * '''Gym #12 - Erika (Celadon City, Grass-type): * Gym #13 - Janine (Fuchsia City, Poison-type): * Gym #14 - Sabrina (Saffron City, Psychic-type): * Gym #15 - Blaine (Seafoam Islands, Fire-type): * Gym #16 - Blue (Viridian City): * Rival (Indigo Plateau, optional): * Red (Mt. Silver): Moves Heracross has Tackle, Leer, Horn Attack, and Endure as starting moves at level 1. Tackle is pretty much worthless in comparison to Horn Attack, so Horn Attack will likely be the attacking move of choice for awhile. Leer isn't very useful, as Heracross already hits hard from the get-go. Endure is gimmicky at best, and there are generally better choices to use as substitutes. Night Slash is also at level 1, but can only be obtained by using the move reminder. Night Slash can be useful for coverage once Blackthorne has been reached. At level 7, this rhinoceros beetle gets Fury Attack, which is pretty bloody useless, with subpar accuracy and less average power than Horn Attack. Stick with the latter. Then it's time for some real moves. Heracross gets Aerial Ace at 13 and Brick Break at 19. Aerial Ace provides coverage against those Grass/Poison and Bug/Poison types and Brick Break is great STAB. Counter at level 25 is risky, but can be potentially useful with good knowledge and a bit of prediction. Take Down at level 31 is generally not worth the effort as there is better Normal coverage available. Close Combat is the epitome of Heracross' Fighting STAB, coming in at level 37, and is well worth the wait. Reversal at level 43 and Feint at 49 fit some niche roles. Reversal could theoretically be used in tandem with Endure, but, again, is a big risk with little in terms of reward. Close Combat will usually be a safer way to deal damage. Feint breaks through Protect and Detect, but is a loss of a move slot in all other cases. Megahorn is the final move in Heracross' level-up learnset at level 55, and certainly packs the punch to match. Note that this is the first and only Bug STAB in its levelup moves, with the only other options being taught by the Move Tutor. Heracross also gets a bunch of good moves via TM. Some early TMs of note include Rock Tomb and Shadow Claw, which are great coverage options that complement Heracross' Fighting moves quite nicely. Do note that Rock Tomb can be risky due to a low accuracy, but Shadow Claw is great even later in the game. Aerial Ace would potentially be an option in case it was forgotten at some point. Dig is good and Earthquake is great when it's obtained later in the game, but these might best be used on another Pokémon as Ground and Fighting overlap a bit in terms of coverage. Rock Slide and Stone Edge are great late-game Rock moves. Return gives good neutral coverage while Strength is decent enough if the HM needs to be used. Facade is not too shabby on a Guts set. As for status moves, Swords Dance is the main move of note, allowing the beetle's monstrous Attack stat to be increased even further. Bulk Up is another potential option that increases Defense in addition to Attack. Note, however, that Bulk Up only increases Attack by one stage and is received through the Battle Frontier. Speaking of the Battle Frontier, Heracross gets a few more options from the Move Tutor. Bug Bite can be used to get some Bug STAB, though Megahorn is likely to come Heracross' way soon enough. Iron Defense could be taught to give this beetle even more survivability on the physical side. Other than that, Low Kick could be used as Fighting STAB without the detriment of lowering defensive stats, though Close Combat is just as powerful as Low Kick at its max. Finally, Headbutt is also an option from Ilex Forest for neutral coverage. Recommended moveset: Close Combat, Night Slash / Shadow Claw / Earthquake, Megahorn, Rock Slide / Stone Edge Recommended Teammates (Pokémon that work well on the same team with the one being analyzed) Other Heracross' stats * What Nature do I want? Adamant or Jolly are the best by far, increasing one of Heracross' two most important stats while decreasing its most useless stat. Impish and Careful are two other decent natures. Naughty and Timid aren't bad, as while Heracross likes its attacking power, Timid won't be too devastating on the Attack stat, and Special Defense is the higher of its two defensive stats. Brave is good if Choice Scarf is an option. * Which Ability do I want? Guts is the superior ability, as Swarm is limited by the lack of Bug moves until after the Elite Four. Don't fret, however, if a freshly caught Heracross has Swarm, as it will excel regardless of ability. * How good is Heracross in a Nuzlocke? Heracross is a total beast. In a region full of Pokemon with cripplingly balanced spreads, this rhinoceros beetle is essentially made for carnage. A base speed of 85 allows it to outspeed the vast majority of the Pokemon in the early game, and the Choice Scarf is available before it starts to lose some of its edge in speed. Heracross has fantastic bulk in the early game when you are first able to receive it, and does pretty well for itself defensively late game. A monstrous base 125 Attack is crazy early on and ensures that Heracross can hold its own end-game, being able to prove its worth against Red. Heracross doesn't get access to many types of moves, but it gets pretty much all it needs with Fighting, Rock, Bug, Ghost/Dark, and Ground. * Weaknesses: Flying (x4), Fire, Psychic * Resistances: Fighting, Ground, Bug, Grass, Dark * Immunities: None * Neutralities: Normal, Poison, Rock, Ghost, Steel, Water, Electric, Ice, Dragon Category:HeartGold/SoulSilver Category:Abandoned Articles